Pissing On The Democratic Brand

Here are two quotes — one by a Democratic operative, and one by a right-wing Christianist leader. Can you tell who’s who?

"Sen. Obama was recently named the most liberal U.S. Senator, based on the annual voting analysis by the non-partisan and highly respected National Journal."

And,

“Independent and Republican support is diminishing as they find out he’s the most liberal Democratic senator.”

The quotes are from Mark Penn (the second) and James Dobson (the first). That’s right, Mark Penn is using James Dobson’s messaging to attack another Democrat.

Look, taking down Obama for the purpose of winning the primary is perfectly fine. But taking down Obama using right-wing frames that do long-term damage Democratic brand is absolutely not. And for a Democratic presidential campaign to use "most liberal" as an epithet is completely unacceptable.

When was the last time you heard a Republican accuse another of being "too conservative"? For that matter, when was the last time you heard a Democratic candidate use that as an attack on a Republican? Right, never. There’s a reason for that, and it’s not an accident. It’s the result of years and years of a disciplined and sustained branding effort by the GOP.

I’m sick and tired of this DLC, attack-your-left-flank-first, bullshit. After 8 years of the most radical administration in history, is this really helpful to the party? That the big scary leftwing liberals are the problem?

None of this even addresses the merits of Penn’s and Dobson’s claim — for that, see Carpetbagger. But this is the kind of crap we have to stamp out as a party, once and for all.